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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. fall — to drop
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. fall — to drop
  5. lean — thin
  6. drill — the tool
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — from a university
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. lie — to recline
  11. clip — a video
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. degree — an amount
  14. sharp — clever
  15. drill — army training
  16. clip — to cut
  17. drill — a practice
  18. clip — for paper
  19. bear — the animal
  20. fall — the season
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. bear — the animal

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com